Russia, Ukraine Trade Accusations of Infrastructure Attacks After Putin-Trump Call 

A handout photo made available by the Russian Defense Ministry's press service shows abandoned Ukrainian ammunition at a position in the Kursk region, Russia, 14 March 2025. (EPA/ Russian Defense Ministry Press Service Handout) 
A handout photo made available by the Russian Defense Ministry's press service shows abandoned Ukrainian ammunition at a position in the Kursk region, Russia, 14 March 2025. (EPA/ Russian Defense Ministry Press Service Handout) 
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Russia, Ukraine Trade Accusations of Infrastructure Attacks After Putin-Trump Call 

A handout photo made available by the Russian Defense Ministry's press service shows abandoned Ukrainian ammunition at a position in the Kursk region, Russia, 14 March 2025. (EPA/ Russian Defense Ministry Press Service Handout) 
A handout photo made available by the Russian Defense Ministry's press service shows abandoned Ukrainian ammunition at a position in the Kursk region, Russia, 14 March 2025. (EPA/ Russian Defense Ministry Press Service Handout) 

Russia and Ukraine accused each other on Wednesday of launching air attacks that sparked fires and damaged infrastructure just hours after their leaders agreed to a limited ceasefire to halt attacks on energy infrastructure.

Putin agreed to temporarily stop attacking Ukrainian energy facilities but declined to endorse a full 30-day ceasefire sought by US President Donald Trump in a telephone call with the Russian leader on Tuesday.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had agreed to the US proposed 30-day ceasefire before the Putin-Trump call and later supported the more limited ceasefire on energy targets.

But after Russia launched its air attacks early on Wednesday, Zelenskiy urged the world to block any attempts by Moscow to drag out the war.

"Russia is attacking civilian infrastructure and people - right now," Andriy Yermak, Zelenskiy's chief of staff, said overnight on Telegram.

Regional authorities in Sumy in northeast Ukraine said that Russia's drone attacks damaged two hospitals there, causing no injuries but forcing the evacuation of patients and hospital staff.

A 60-year-old man was injured and several houses damaged in Russian drone attack on the Kyiv region that surrounds the Ukrainian capital, Mykola Kalashnyk, governor of the region, said early on Wednesday.

Zelenskiy said that Russia launched more than 40 drones against Ukraine in the hours following the call between Trump and Putin.

Russia's defense ministry said that its units destroyed 57 Ukrainian drones overnight, 35 of them over the border Kursk region. The ministry reports only how many drones were destroyed not how many were launched by Ukraine.

Authorities in the southern Russian region of Krasnodar said early on Wednesday that a Ukrainian drone attack sparked a small fire at an oil depot located near the village of Kavkazskaya.

No one was injured in the fire, which spread across 20 square meters (215 square feet), but 30 employees were evacuated, the administration of the southern Russian region said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

"The work at the facility has been suspended," the administration said.

The Russian SHOT news Telegram posted a video of blazes at night at what seemed like an industrial area.

SHOT said the Kavkazskaya oil transshipment point is an important facility designed to transport Russian oil for exports railway and into the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) pipeline system.

Reuters could not independently verify the SHOT report.

Russia's aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia said that for a couple of hours overnight flights were suspended from airports in Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod and Nizhnekamsk, Russia, all hundreds of kilometers east of Moscow, to "ensure air safety".

The agency did not say what was the reason for the suspension, but it usually suspends flights when there are reports of drone attacks.



Trump Reposts Suggestion that Rubio become Next Cuba Leader

Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) react during campaign event at Dorton Arena, in Raleigh, North Carolina, US November 4, 2024. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake/
Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) react during campaign event at Dorton Arena, in Raleigh, North Carolina, US November 4, 2024. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake/
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Trump Reposts Suggestion that Rubio become Next Cuba Leader

Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) react during campaign event at Dorton Arena, in Raleigh, North Carolina, US November 4, 2024. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake/
Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) react during campaign event at Dorton Arena, in Raleigh, North Carolina, US November 4, 2024. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake/

President Donald Trump reposted a social media message on Sunday suggesting that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, born to Cuban immigrant parents, would become the next leader of Cuba.

Trump republished on his Truth Social platform a message from X user Cliff Smith on January 8 that read: "Marco Rubio will be president of Cuba," accompanied by a crying laughing emoji, AFP reported.

"Sounds good to me!" Trump commented in his repost.

The largely unknown user, whose bio refers to him as a "conservative Californian," has less than 500 followers on X.

Trump's repost comes a week after US forces seized Venezuela's authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro in an overnight operation in Caracas that killed dozens of Venezuelan and Cuban security forces.

Cuba's communist government has yet to directly respond to the US president's provocative suggestion that an American citizen could rule the island.

But shortly after Trump's post, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez insisted "right and justice are on Cuba's side."

The United States "behaves like an out-of-control criminal hegemon that threatens peace and security, not only in Cuba and this hemisphere, but throughout the entire world," Rodriguez posted on X.


UK's Former US Envoy Apologizes to Epstein's Victims, Not for His Own Ties

British Ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson walks on the day British Prime Minister Keir Starmer holds an emergency Cobra meeting to discuss Israel-Iran conflict, in London, Britain, June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy/File Photo
British Ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson walks on the day British Prime Minister Keir Starmer holds an emergency Cobra meeting to discuss Israel-Iran conflict, in London, Britain, June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy/File Photo
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UK's Former US Envoy Apologizes to Epstein's Victims, Not for His Own Ties

British Ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson walks on the day British Prime Minister Keir Starmer holds an emergency Cobra meeting to discuss Israel-Iran conflict, in London, Britain, June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy/File Photo
British Ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson walks on the day British Prime Minister Keir Starmer holds an emergency Cobra meeting to discuss Israel-Iran conflict, in London, Britain, June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy/File Photo

Britain's former US ambassador Peter Mandelson, who was dismissed over his links to Jeffrey Epstein last year, apologized on Sunday ​to the victims of the late convicted sex offender but not for his own actions.

Mandelson was fired in September over emails that came to light revealing a much closer relationship than previously acknowledged. The veteran British politician called Epstein "my best pal" and had advised him on seeking early jail release.

"I want to apologize to ‌those women ‌for a system that refused to ‌hear ⁠their ​voices and ‌did not give them the protection they were entitled to expect," Mandelson told the BBC broadcaster when asked if he wanted to say sorry for his links, Reuters reported.

Mandelson said he would only apologize for his own ties if he had known about Epstein's actions or been complicit.

"I was not ⁠culpable, I was not knowledgeable of what he was doing," he said.

"I ‌believed his story and that of ‍his lawyer, who spent ‍a lot of time trying to persuade me of ‍this ... that he had been falsely criminalized in his contact with these young women. Now I wish I had not believed that story."

Britain's government said at the time of Mandelson's dismissal that ​the depth of his ties to Epstein appeared "materially different" from what was known at the ⁠time of his appointment.

It has since named Christian Turner as its next ambassador to the US in a pivotal moment for transatlantic ties.

"Do you really think that if I knew what was going on and what he was doing with and to these vulnerable young women that I'd have just sat back, ignored it and moved on?", Mandelson added in the interview, describing Epstein as an "evil monster".

Mandelson also said he believed that, as a gay man in Epstein's ‌circle, he was "kept separate from what he was doing in the sexual side of his life".


German FM Puts Emphasis on Close Ties before US Trip

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul attends a press conference in Beijing, China December 8, 2025. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul attends a press conference in Beijing, China December 8, 2025. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
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German FM Puts Emphasis on Close Ties before US Trip

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul attends a press conference in Beijing, China December 8, 2025. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul attends a press conference in Beijing, China December 8, 2025. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul emphasized the importance of transatlantic relations on Sunday as he ​left for a trip to Washington that takes place at a delicate time due to tensions over US interests in Greenland and Venezuela.

"Never before has it been so crucial to ‌invest in ‌the transatlantic partnership in ‌order ⁠to ​remain ‌capable of shaping the world order," Wadephul said in Berlin before his departure.

He said he would address what he called "differences of opinions" between Germany and the United States during ⁠a meeting on Monday with US Secretary ‌of State Marco Rubio.

"Where ‍there are ‍differences of opinion, we want ‍to address these differences through dialogue in order to fulfil our shared responsibility for peace and security," Wadephul said.

On ​his way to Washington, Wadephul plans to stop over in Iceland ⁠on Sunday, where a meeting on Arctic security is scheduled with his Icelandic counterpart in Reykjavik.

Later on Monday, he also plans to meet UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

"For Germany, reliability as an international partner clearly includes a commitment to international law and international cooperation," he said, ‌referring to the United Nations.